Noise
by CurvyPragmatist
Summary: A short, completed piece about Miranda's overly sensitive hearing.


**Title**: Noise

**Rating**: PG-13

**Disclaimer**: I don't own them, I just play with them now and then

**Summary**: A short, completed piece about Miranda's overly sensitive hearing.

* * *

><p>Miranda threw her pen down on the coffee table in front of the plush sofa and tilted her head to the side in fixated anger. She closed her eyes and focused all of her attention on the sound. It was a distant sound and most people would have probably ignored it in the knowledge that hotels have many people staying in them and sound from other rooms would undoubtedly leak through on occasion.<p>

But Miranda was most certainly not most people and inexplicable noise bothered her greatly. When she was younger she found it practically impossible to focus on anyone if there was even a hint of distraction. It wasn't long before she realised it was the sound that distracted her, as if her ears were straining to take in every single detail around her and there was no way she could shut it off.

Over the years Miranda had learnt to control the feeling, especially at the Runway office where she had managed to cultivate an environment that was suited to this condition. Each and every one of her staff were too petrified of her to dare to speak loudly enough for her to hear them unless they were stood right in front of her. She maintained a quiet environment and everyone else followed suit.

It worked well, but out of the Runway office and in other locations Miranda found herself driven to despair by even the quietest of noises. Hotels were the worst, even on the 23rd floor of the most prestigious hotel Miranda would find something that was making a noise, something that shouldn't be making quite so much noise. The air conditioning unit, the mini bar, the dripping tap in the bathroom, the wind against the window and even the distant sound of the elevator engine room springing to life. Many a time Miranda had demanded to be moved, of course she never fully explained why.

While noises from her room were bad it was the external and uncontrollable noises that really bothered her. The sound of other people. Lord, she couldn't abide the racket that other people made. Loudly closing doors, wheeling a squeaky case down a corridor, laughing or even having sex. She heard it all and she loathed it all which was why she often requested to be on the top floor of the hotel as it meant there was no one above her and usually very few rooms surrounding her.

Ironically it wasn't the loud noises that annoyed her the most, far from it, it was the quiet noises. The ones she couldn't immediately identify and the ones that almost made her wonder if she were imagining them. When she heard those noises she had to locate them and eradicate them immediately. She usually started with electronic items, they were often the main culprits of background noise and it wasn't unusual for Miranda to pull out the furniture in her room to access plug sockets to gleefully wrench the life blood from the wretched machine that was causing her misery.

But when she had killed off all of the usual suspects and the noise remained, that was when she really began to get irritated. It was fifteen minutes ago that she had disconnected all the electronics in her room, save for the lamp she was reading by as she had listen to both bulb and plug socket and decided that it could remain in action. However the noise remained.

Miranda stood up with her eyes still closed and listened carefully, it was ever so distant but it was a humming noise. It seemed to come and go, sometimes become quite faint so Miranda didn't hear it only for it to return a second later. She opened her eyes and began to stalk around the hotel suite with a dangerous glint in her eye.

She approached the window and closed her eyes to listen carefully to see if the noise was outside and after a few moments she turned to investigate the bathroom. She turned the light on and looked around the room for anything that might be the cause of the sound, paying particular attention to the air vent in the ceiling. She looked at herself in the mirror while she waited for her sensitive hearing to adjust to the room, she was wearing a crisp white blouse with cream suit trousers.

Deciding that the bathroom was not the offender she quickly crossed the room back to the original scene of the crime, the sofa. There she stood completely still until she detected the sound again and once she did she headed in a different direction, this time the bedroom. Once she entered the bedroom she could hear the sound slightly louder than before and she eagerly searched the room for the sound even searching under the bed remembering the time she found an electronic safe under a hotel bed that had circulated an unpleasant whining noise during the night.

Pulling her head out from under the bed she sighed and blew a white lock of hair away from her face. She sat kneeling on the carpet and looked around in puzzlement until her eyes fell on the wall behind the headboard. She quickly stood up and climbed onto the bed, she'd discarded her high heels hours ago and her cream tights were all that covered her feet as she pressed the side of her head against the wall and listened intently.

Her eyes lit up in victory, she could hear the sound slightly clearer but it was definitely coming from the suite next door. She pressed her ear even closer to distinguish the sound but it still wasn't clear enough for her to make out.

"Intolerable," she mumbled to herself as she held onto the wall and climbed off of the bed. Once safely on the ground she looked at the wall in displeasure, "unbelievable."

She turned on her heel and walked through the sitting room, pausing only to grab her hotel key card and flung open the door to her suite. She strode up the corridor to the room next door and knocked on the door. Now she was in the corridor she could more clearly hear the noise and when she realised her relatively quiet knock was going unheard she hammered on the door with her fist.

Still nothing, the noise continued and Miranda banged even harder on the door and after ten seconds of non-stop hammering the noise inside the suite ceased and Miranda stopped her banging and folded her arms in displeasure as she waited for the occupier to open the door.

After what seemed like an eternity the door opened and Miranda balked in surprise as she stared at the person before her.

"You! What are you doing in there?" she almost spat.

Andy looked at her irate boss in surprise, "er, the hotel manager upgraded me.. after you said the whole state was the armpit of America.."

"No," Miranda sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "what are you doing? What is the noise? And what happened to you?"

Miranda seemed to finally take in the sight in front of her and stared at Andy like she had never seen her before.

Andy knew she looked a complete mess, she had been stupid to try to go out for a walk when a weather warning had been issued. She was only a ten minute walk away from the hotel when the heavens opened but the rain had been so heavy that she had been instantly soaked and with nowhere to take cover she had been forced to walk back to the hotel looking like a drowned rat. Now she was stood in front of her fashion goddess of a boss and she was wearing dark blue jeans and a black v neck t-shirt which she would normally never let Miranda see her in. She'd had to remove her makeup and her hair was completely soaked.

"Andrea?" Miranda questioned with impatience.

"I got caught out in a storm.." Andy replied, "I'm drying my clothes so I can pack them without ruining my other clothes.."

"Drying your.." Miranda questioned with confusion before nodding in understanding, "you're using a hairdryer, to dry your clothes."

Andy nodded, "I'm so sorry, Miranda, I'll keep the noise down, I'll go into another room to do it.. I'm sorry for disturbing you."

Miranda waved her hand in disinterest, "no, carry on. I suppose I should be grateful that you are valiantly attempting to rescue couture."

Miranda glided past Andy and into the room and looked back at the young brunette who was still holding the door open and looking at Miranda in confusion.

"Do close the door, Andrea, you'll catch a chill from the draft in the corridor," Miranda said as she looked around the suite for the offending hairdryer. Andy closed the door and quickly ran after Miranda who was making a beeline for the master bedroom.

Once in the bedroom Miranda looked around and noted a purple dress , a black woollen shrug, a pair of high heel shoes, panties and a bra all laying on the floor with a hairdryer nearby. Andy quickly followed her into the room and quickly swiped the bra and panties from the floor and held them behind her back, "I'm so sorry, Miranda, I promise I'll have them dry soon.. I.."

Miranda knelt down and placed the back of her hand on the shrug and looked shocked as she picked up the soaking material, "Andrea this is more water than it is wool!"

"I know," Andy said in misery, "I wrung it out a tiny bit and reshaped it and I've been drying it for twenty minutes and it's just as bad as it was when I got in."

Miranda looked up at the girl and looked at her wet curls, "that must have been some downpour."

"Yeah," Andy agreed as she put her panties and bra in a nearby drawer out of Miranda's vision, "I've never seen anything like it, I was soaked in about five seconds and then I had a ten minute walk back to the hotel, the sidewalk was flooded after twenty seconds.."

Miranda stood up and walked the few steps towards her assistant and Andy's eyes went wide as the Editor reached a hand out and grasped the end of her long dark hair.

"Andrea!" Miranda reprimanded, "you're soaked through to the bone, you must dry your hair at once or you'll catch your death!"

"I.. I wanted to dry the clothes first, we're leaving tomorrow and I can't pack them like that.."

Miranda cut Andy off with a glare, "go and wash your hair right now. Hot water. Go."

Andy didn't question the older woman and immediately left the bedroom and went into the bathroom. Miranda bent down and picked up the soaking clothes, surprised at their weight now they were so filled with water. She carried the clothes and shoes into the living room before returning to the bedroom and recovering the bra and panties from the drawer where Andy had put them.

She walked into the living room and picked up the phone and called the operator, "yes, I need someone to come up and launder some garments. Immediately. Seems this state thinks it's acceptable to drown out beautiful couture. Send someone to get the items. That's all."

Miranda put the phone down just as Andy appeared in the living room wrapped in nothing but a towel, whatever the young woman was going to say was completely removed from her brain by the image of Miranda standing there holding her underwear.

"Erm, I.. err, I.." she stuttered.

"Why is it so difficult to follow basic instructions?" Miranda sighed, still clutching the underwear.

"No, I.. it's just.. well.." Andy tried again but still couldn't manage to form a full sentence.

"Dear God, Andrea, come on, spit it out. Or did your date with Christian render you completely mute?" Miranda sighed as she placed the underwear atop the other clothes which were draped over the back of a chair.

Andy found her voice again, "I didn't have a date with Christian," she heatedly denied.

Miranda almost laughed, "oh really? That's not what I heard him say at the dinner this evening.."

Andy blushed but replied, "I was going to see him tonight, yes. But I cancelled."

Miranda frowned but there was no denying that she seemed pleased with the admission, "why did you do that?"

"I don't like him," Andy replied with a heated stare as if to challenge Miranda to further question her personal decision.

Miranda nodded before knitting her eyebrows, "then why were you out this evening?"

Andy closed her eyes briefly to curse herself and Miranda immediately sensed there was a lot more to this than her assistant was willing to admit.

"I was.. thinking.." Andy said without explaining.

Miranda looked down at the dripping clothes, "very fine clothes to be thinking in.."

Andy sighed, "I.. I.. I was going somewhere, but I changed my mind. And then I needed to clear my head, so I went for a walk, okay?"

Miranda held her hand up in light-hearted defence, "very well," she turned her head and looked at the door to the suite a moment before a knock could be heard.

"And there's the laundry service, go and have a shower, Andrea. I'll be here when you get back out."

Andy stared at Miranda in surprise before slowly nodding and leaving the room again for the bathroom.

Half an hour later Andy returned to the living room wrapped in a white towelling bathrobe courtesy of the hotel and a matching towel hung around her shoulders from where she had partially towel-dried her hair. Miranda was sitting on the sofa with her arm stretched out pointing the remote control at the large flat screen television and quickly zapping through the channels.

As she saw Andy she turned the screen off, "ah, good, feeling better?"

Andy nodded quietly, not sure what to say.

"Good, I can't have you becoming ill," Miranda nodded as she stood up and gestured for Andy to sit down at the dining table across the suite.

With a frown Andy approached the table and noticed that the hairdryer and her brush her laying on the table and a chair was pulled out in preparation.

"Well don't just stand there, Andrea," Miranda sighed with irritation as she stood behind the chair and picked up the hairdryer.

With wide, frightened eyes Andy sat down on the chair facing away from Miranda and flinched at the sound of the hairdryer being switched on. Suddenly Miranda's left hand was in her hair, fluffing out the damp strands and drying them with the hairdryer.

"I've lost count of how many times the girls get caught in the New York weather," Miranda spoke over the sound of the hairdryer, "of course when I dry their hair there are two of them so an argument breaks out over who goes first."

Andy sat still in shock at the situation, here she was in nothing but a robe and Miranda freaking Priestly was drying her hair and chatting about her twin girls as if the two women were best friends.

"Is that too hot?" Miranda questioned.

"Um, no!" Andy quickly found her voice and attempted to sound like everything was normal, "no, it's, it's fine, erm, thank you."

"You have beautiful hair, Andrea," Miranda commented as she fanned the long locks out with her hand before blowing them dry, "it must be a lot of maintenance."

"Yeah," Andy nodded gently as she revelled in the touch of Miranda's hand in her hair, "but I like it this length, I've always had long hair."

Miranda reached around her and picked up the hairbrush from the table and began blow drying the hair into a casual curled style, "it suits you."

Andy wordlessly nodded as she struggled to think of what to say next.

"Why did you change your mind?" Miranda questioned above the noise.

"Er, sorry?" Andy asked with confusion.

"When you came to my door this evening, why did you change your mind?" Miranda added as she switched the brush and the hairdryer and started on the other side of Andy's hair.

Andy blushed deeply, "I.. I didn't.. I mean, I.. well.."

"I heard you," Miranda added, "I heard you in those pretty little Louboutin's, you stood outside my door for about twenty seconds before rushing off. Why did you change your mind, Andrea?"

"I.. I don't know," Andy admitted quietly.

"I see," Miranda nodded as she continued to dry the young woman's hair. After a few minutes she put the hairdryer down on the table and gently brushed through the curls before walking around and standing in front of Andy to admire her work.

"There," she said with satisfaction, "all finished. I suggest you get some sleep to battle any potential illness that may be festering following that cold rain."

Andy nodded quietly and watched as Miranda picked up the hotel key card to her room and walked towards the door. She placed her hand on the door before turning to Andy, "next time, maybe you shouldn't change your mind.."

With that she smiled a genuine smile that was normally only ever reserved for the girls and opened the door and left the room leaving a completely stunned first assistant staring open mouthed.


End file.
